1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to material separators in general and, more particularly, to a means for magnetically separating precious metals from their ores in slurry form as this slurry flows through a series of passageways.
2. General Background
The art of material separators is redundant with attempts to separate the desired material from its surroundings. In some cases, the material is in dry form and is separated by passing the material through a series of smaller and smaller filters. In other cases, the material is mixed with water (or some other fluid) to form a slurry that is then shaken or vibrated so that the heavier material will settle out while the finer material is flushed from the separator. Still other examples utilize magnets to attract and collect any metal that may exist in the material to be separated.
With respect to this latter magnetic type of separator, perhaps a most typical example is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,565,624 to Martinez. Martinez illustrates a series of ramps or trays upon which the dry to-be-separated material flows. Underneath some of these trays are magnetic means energized so as to separate magnetic minerals from the feed material. Other examples of magnetic separators are U.S. Pat. No. 529,340 to Watson, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 471,731 to Freeman, U.S. Pat. No. 317,621 to Butler, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,193,767 to Fipke.
Watson, et al. '340, in FIG. 3, illustrates a belt that conveys the dry material over a series of magnets so that the heavier god and magnetic metals will remain on the belt in order to be discharged into receptacle 21 rather than being carried downwardly in the direction of ARROW "A."
Freeman '731 discloses, in FIG. 5, a magnetic cylinder X' that is rotated adjacent the dry material to be separated so as to remove the fine granulated iron from the remaining particles.
Butler '621 discloses a magnetic cylinder H upon which an ore slurry is deposited so that any iron particles in the slurry will cling to the cylinder and thus be separated from the flowing slurry.
Fipke '767 discloses a method of retrieving desired particles from a bulk sample by first washing and then wet sieving the sample, drying the desired sized sample just obtained, separating this sample by specific gravity and then magnetically separating this separated sample so as to acquire a concentration of the desired material.
While the above disclose several means for the magnetic separation of material, the equipment required for such is cumbersome, bulky and expensive. The methods disclosed for separating a wet slurry specify many pre-separation steps before the slurry can be magnetically separated. These added steps add to the cost and expense of such separation. They also increase the time required to magnetically separate a sample, thereby decreasing the total number of samples that can be separated in a given time frame Another drawback to the above disclosures is that the sample must be delivered to the separating machine rather than the separator being portable enabling it to be transported to the sampling site.
It is thus an object of this invention to provide a portable magnetic separation device that can easily be transported to the sampling site.
Another object of this invention is to reduce or eliminate the many pre-separation steps normally required with other magnetic separators.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a magnetic separator that is not bulky, is not cumbersome, and is not expensive.
A further object of this invention is to provide a means for expanding the capabilities of this magnetic separator so that as the number or size of each sample grows, the size of the separator can grow as well.
An additional object of this invention is to provide a separator that operates quickly and efficiently so as to provide the desired separation in a timely manner.
Yet another object of this invention is to utilize water hydraulic flow characteristics, gravity, and magnetic attraction principles to separate out the desired particles. These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become obvious upon further investigation.